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The Simpsons Cast and Crew
(If we want to include people who guest-starred only once or as themselves, we should consider making a sub-project. In 30 years that is a ton of profiles.)
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of working-class life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and parodies American culture and society, television, and the human condition.
The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name. The shorts became a part of Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After three seasons, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and became Fox's first series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–90).
At the time of writing this, The Simpsons is about to enter the 30th season. Going on strong as ever. Our most sincere thanks go to:
Development
James L. Brooks (Producer)
who came up with the idea for
Tracey Ullman's show
and passed it over to
Matt Groening (Man behind the Simpsons)
The animation was first produced in the USA domestically at Klasky Csupo, a multimedia entertainment production company which specializes in animation and graphic design, and who assigned Wes Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season.
Executive producers and showrunners
Season 1–2: Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, & Sam Simon
Season 3–4: Al Jean & Mike Reiss
Season 5–6: David Mirkin
Season 7–8: Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein
Season 9–12: Mike Scully
Season 13–present: Al Jean
Writing
The first team of writers, assembled by Sam Simon, consisted of John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky.
Newer Simpsons' writing teams typically consist of sixteen writers who toss ideas around. The main writer of each episode writes the first draft. Group rewriting sessions develop final scripts by adding or removing jokes, inserting scenes, and calling for re-readings of lines by the show's vocal performers.
One of the best-known former writers is Conan O'Brien, who contributed to several episodes in the early 1990s before replacing David Letterman as host of the talk show Late Night. English comedian Ricky Gervais wrote the episode "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife", becoming the first celebrity to both write and guest star in an episode. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, writers of the film Superbad, wrote the episode "Homer the Whopper", with Rogen voicing a character in it.
Voice actors
Casting director Bonita Pietila, original and guest casting.
The Simpsons has six main cast members:
Dan Castellaneta, voices Homer and many other characters for the show like Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Mel, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby and Hans Moleman.
Julie Kavner, voices Marge Simpson and Patty and Selma, as well as several minor characters.
Nancy Cartwright, voices Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum and other children.
Yeardley Smith, voices Lisa Simpson, and only occasionally other characters.
Hank Azaria, voices recurring characters such as Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and Professor Frink.
and
Harry Shearer, voices for Mr. Burns, Mr. Smithers, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy and Dr. Hibbert.
In addition to the main cast, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Marcia Wallace, Maggie Roswell, and Russi Taylor voice supporting characters. From 1999 to 2002, Roswell's characters were voiced by Marcia Mitzman Gaven. Karl Wiedergott has also appeared in minor roles, but does not voice any recurring characters. Wiedergott left the show in 2010, and since then Chris Edgerly has appeared regularly to voice minor characters. Repeat "special guest" cast members include Albert Brooks, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Joe Mantegna, Maurice LaMarche, and Kelsey Grammer.